Chicago, IL · Houston, TX
Houston is 11% cheaper than Chicago overall.
Home Price
Chicago: $315,000
Houston: $320,000
Monthly Rent
Chicago: $2,288/mo
Houston: $1,262/mo
COL Index
Chicago: 114
Houston: 101
Median Income
Chicago: $70,100
Houston: $67,800
Median Home Price
Monthly Rent (Median)
Median Household Income
Property Tax Rate
Cost of Living Index
100 = national average
Avg. Commute
Unemployment Rate
Median Age
A $100,000 salary in Chicago has the same purchasing power as $88,596 in Houston — based on each city's cost of living index.
Homes in Houston are 2% cheaper (-$5,000 less). That's a significant down payment and monthly payment difference.
Renting in Houston saves you $1,026/month — $12,312 per year. Median rent: $2,288/mo in Chicago vs $1,262/mo in Houston.
On a median-priced home, Chicago owners pay roughly $6,615/year in property taxes vs $6,080/year in Houston. That's a $535 annual difference.
Median household income is $70,100 in Chicago and $67,800 in Houston. Incomes are similar, so cost of living differences matter more.
Average commute is 31 minutes in Chicago vs 29 minutes in Houston. Commute times are nearly identical.
To maintain the same lifestyle when moving from Chicago to Houston, here's the salary you'd need:
| Salary in Chicago | Equivalent in Houston | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $44,298 | -$5,702 |
| $75,000 | $66,447 | -$8,553 |
| $100,000 | $88,596 | -$11,404 |
| $150,000 | $132,895 | -$17,105 |
| $200,000 | $177,193 | -$22,807 |
* Calculated using cost of living indices (national average = 100). Does not account for state income tax differences.
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Cost of Living
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Property Tax Calculator
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Based on cost of living indices, Houston is cheaper overall. Chicago has a COL index of 114 while Houston scores 101 (national average = 100).
The median home price in Chicago is $315,000 vs $320,000 in Houston — a difference of $5,000 (2%).
Use the salary equivalence table above. For example, a $100K salary in Chicago is equivalent to $88,596 in Houston in terms of purchasing power.
Houston has a lower property tax rate (1.9% vs 2.1%). On a median-priced home, that means paying $6,080/year vs $6,615/year.
Median monthly rent: $2,288 in Chicago vs $1,262 in Houston. Annualized: $27,456 vs $15,144.
Chicago: $70,100/yr. Houston: $67,800/yr (Census ACS).
Lower-cost Houston typically lets remote-workers keeping a coastal salary stretch further. Higher-cost cities usually win on amenities and labor-market depth.
Numbers are pulled from Zillow ZHVI/ZORI (home values, rent), the U.S. Census Bureau ACS (income), and BEA RPP (cost-of-living index). Each value is timestamped on the page.
Source feeds refresh on their native cadence — hourly for mortgage rates, monthly for ZHVI/ZORI, annually for ACS. Page caches revalidate every 24 hours via Next.js ISR.
No. This page is educational reference using public data and standard formulas. It is not personalized tax, legal, or investment advice. Consult a licensed professional for material decisions.
City-level metrics (median home price, median rent, median household income, property tax rate, COL index, commute, unemployment, median age) are sourced from Zillow ZHVI/ZORI[1], Census ACS 5-year estimates[2], BEA Regional Price Parities[3], Tax Foundation[4], and BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics[5].
The Cost of Living Index uses 100 = national average (C2ER methodology[6]): values above 100 indicate a city is more expensive than the national average, below 100 less expensive.
Salary equivalence uses the ratio adjustedSalary = salary × (colDestination / colOrigin). This accounts for cost-of-living differences but does not model state income tax variation, which can be significant.
Annual property tax is computed as medianHomePrice × propertyTaxRate. Actual assessed value may differ from sale price. Effective rates vary within a metro; these are metro-wide medians.
Commute-hours calculations assume 250 working days/year and a round-trip commute. "Tied" in the comparison table means values within ±1% of each other.
Last reviewed reflects the maximum retrievedAt timestamp across every sourced dataset feeding this page. When any source refreshes, the next ISR revalidation (every 24 hours) picks the new date.
Cost of living data sourced from [6] C2ER, [2] U.S. Census Bureau, and [1] Zillow Research. Tax rates from [4] Tax Foundation. Last reviewed .